Incredible, Starving, Insatiable

"They'll never understand, you know," she whispered, one hand on his cheek, the other at resting on the back of his neck, her fingers entwined in the soft wisps of hair that resided there. He sighed softly, almost imperceptibly, and placed a soft, gentle kiss on her lips before responding.

"If they won't, we'll simply have to run away," he looked down upon her bright, questioning eyes with calm, silvery ones. "Will you be able to?"

She took a long pause. He liked that. He preferred that she actually weighed her options in her mind, rather than making dramatic claims that she thought romantic, like many other silly twits of her age would do. He watched as she thought over what running away with him would truly be like. He could see the emotions running across her face, giving away her thoughts. So unlike himself, he thought. She bit her bottom lip, and he inwardly smiled; there wasn't a single time, whether in the middle of a snog session or in a time or mortal peril, that biting her lips didn't make him want to grab her and snog her senseless.

"Yes," she replied firmly, forcing himself to break away from the thoughts that had moved rather rapidly from snogging to, well, rather adult topics. "But Draco," Ginny asked. "Will you?"

He gave her the same respect of thinking the decision over. He knew that while he referred to her leaving behind her family, everyone she loved minus one, she was referring to escaping from his father's merciless dominance, his mother's blindness to her son's despair at being forced to become a Death Eater and leaving behind the life of luxury he had been so content to lead. While he rejoiced at the thought of getting away from his parents and the thought that had scared him ever since the summer after his fourth year - nearly 3 years ago - he didn't know how he would support himself, and more importantly, Ginny, without any of his family's wealth. He knew that he was used to having more money than most people could comprehend, and that doing work was something he simply was not born to do. It would be difficult to give that up.

He looked down at Ginny, her blue eyes staring up at his own gray ones with more love in them than he ever knew existed, but also with worry and fear. Fear, he thought. Fear that I don't love her enough to leave with her. Immediately he realized that he was being a prat. Ginny was willing to give up six doting, adoring brothers, two loving parents that she cherished with all her heart - all that didn't belong to himself - and lifelong friends, the kind that he never had and always envied her ability to make so easily. And he foolishly thought of money when she asked the question. He hadn't thought enough to realize that perhaps she was asking if she was worthy of leaving everything behind.

"I won't be leaving anything behind," Draco responded, as firm as she was. "You're all I need."

Four Months Earlier ...

Virginia Weasely sighed heavily. The vast majority of the students of Hogwarts had just boarded the train to visit home for Christmas, and while her brother Ron had gotten to go to Hermione Granger's house for the holidays, along with Harry Potter, Hermione's boyfriend, Ginny had had to stay behind, as her mother had insisted. Her grades had begun to slip in this, her sixth year, and her mother thought it best that she stay behind at study. Ginny had complained, and Ron, Harry and Hermione had even protested on her part, saying that Hermione would be the best study companion and would easily help Ginny pass all her classes with flying colors. But her mother had not relented. So when everyone else was joyously boarding the train, Ginny just stood by miserably and watched. Right before they boarded, Harry, Hermione, and Ron swooped down upon her and enveloped her in giant hugs, in that order. Ron kissed her cheek, tugged on her hair, and cheekily smiled, promising to bring back plenty of Muggle presents from Hermione's Muggle hometown. Ginny grinned back, despite the ache of wanting to go along, and waved with the as much enthusiasm as she could muster, as the trio, known as the "Dream Team" to sixth years and under, stepped onto the train. She glanced wistfully as Harry placed a soft kiss on Hermione's cheek.

It wasn't that she still had her ridiculous crush on Harry. That had ended shortly after her fourth year, when she began to realize, probably before he did, that he was deeply in love with Hermione. No, she just longed for a relationship like that. She had a sneaking suspicion that it was that longing that was affecting her studies. As the train grew to be a small blob off in the distance, Ginny trudged back to the school with the other few kids that were staying back for the holidays. Ginny had glanced at the list, and saw that it had included few Gryffindors, none from her year, mostly 4^th year Ravenclaws, several Hufflepuffs, though none that she was friends with, and at that point Ginny had stopped. She hadn't cared to know which Slytherins had gotten stuck at Hogwarts, their Death Eater parents refusing to take them due probably, Ginny had mused, to sudden business with Lord Voldemort.

Her encounter in her first year with Tom Riddle had made her able to sense the presence of Dark Magic, and also given her an uncanny ability to read faces, and she could sense the worry that most of the professors at Hogwarts were feeling. She could feel the Dark Magic rising. She knew that something was going on, for those reasons and for the fact that Harry had begun to be slightly withdrawn and reclusive, opening himself only to Hermione, Ron and Ginny.

Ginny sighed again as she neared the castle. Her mind raced with thoughts of activities that could delay the process of studying. Finally, she settled on taking a shower. The glint of her silver prefect badge reminded her that she could even head over to the prefect's bathroom, which people had begun to use more often, and have some leisure time that she hadn't often granted herself in the duration of her prefect status. Smiling, Ginny ran to Gryffindor tower to get her stuff.

**********

At the same time, deep within the Slytherin dungeons, Dracy Malfoy laid back on his bed in his private bedroom. He smirked. He may have lost out to Harry Potter for the spot of Head Boy, but he still was able to have his own bedroom, thanks to Lucius Malfoy's influence and money. Not that he would have wanted to be Head Boy to that Mudblood Granger's Head Girl, he mused. Oooh. That sounded kinky. And she had gotten rather attractive in the past year or so. No wonder Potter decided to have it. He smirked again, as his mind began to wander to the other girls of Hogwarts. There was Pansy Parkinson, who had follower him around for years. He shook his head, as though someone else could see him. Blaise Zabini? Even if she hadn't been taken, by that git Malcolm Baddock, her red hair reminded him too much of those damned Weasleys.

Well, there was a thought. Unbidden, an image of the youngest Weasely, the "Weasley brat," as he had come to call her over the years, had popped into his mind. In fact, he had called her that for so long, he thought he may have forgotten her name. Julie? Janie? Jenny? Well, no matter. She was actually rather attractive, even for a Weasley.

Draco sat straight up. Had he honestly just called a Weasley attractive? He shuddered with the thought. He suddenly felt dirty, and overcome with the urge to wash the filth off of him. He was about to head for the showers in the Slytherin dungeons, when he realized that the likes of Crabbe and Goyle were still hanging around for the holidays, stalking him around per usual. In an effort to avoid them, he would have to head to the prefect's bathroom. He groaned, but the thought of seeing the two dolts was enough to give him the energy to sneak out of the dungeons unnoticed.